DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DEFENSE PART 6: MOTIONS AND/OR PREPARING FOR TRIAL Q: What will you do as my lawyer after we receive all the evidence/discovery from the prosecutor? A: We go through a very deliberate process in looking it all over piece-by-piece to develop any of your defenses. Then we set an office appointment with you to discuss it all. Q: What are the biggest parts…
ANATOMY OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DEFENSE, PART 5 – THE PRELIMINARY HEARING ***We have to begin by assuming that we are actually going to HAVE a preliminary hearing. This would be if we could not convince the prosecutor to drop the case, and we could not negotiate a plea acceptable to you. We must also assume that after receiving advice from your lawyers we jointly decided…
ANATOMY OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DEFENSE, PART 4 – ARRAIGNMENT After the prosecutors have (ideally) reviewed your case and decided which charge(s) to file, your case is placed on the court’s calendar for arraignment. Q – What is an arraignment? A – An announcement of the charge and your entry of a plea. Most people plea NOT GUILTY and if you hire us – we will…
PART 3 – The Intake procedure After the police finish their report(s), they are forwarded to the District or City Attorney’s Office(s). An individual prosecutor will review the report and decide which charge(s) to file, if any. Q – What standard of review do prosecutors use to determine whether or not to file a Battery charge against me? A – They must have a Good-Faith…
ANATOMY OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DEFENSE, PART 2: Arrest, First appearance, Bond levels, conditions of pre-trial release, temporary and extended restraining orders, consequences of any violations. I have listed a series of frequently asked questions (Q) with the applicable answers (A) below; and we will begin with some of the remedial information that overlaps from Part 1 – i.e. The Arrest stage ARREST Q – Do…